''Tonight'' was a British current affairs television programme, presented by Cliff Michelmore, that was broadcast on BBC live on weekday evenings from 18 February 1957 to 18 June 1965. The producers were the future Controller of

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins ...

Donald Baverstock and the future

Director-General of the BBC The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC (for the period of 1927 to 2007) and then t ...

Alasdair Milne. The audience was typically seven million viewers.

BBC TV background

''Tonight'' was, like ''

Six-Five Special ''Six-Five Special'' is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain. Description ''Six-Five Special'' was the BBC's first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. ...

'', created by the BBC to fill in the "

Toddlers' Truce The Toddlers' Truce was an early British television scheduling policy that required transmissions to terminate for an hour each weekday between 6.00pm and 7.00pm – after the end of children's broadcasting and the start of the evening programme ...

" closed period between 6.00pm and 7.00pm (the 'Truce' was officially abolished only a few days before ''Tonight'' was first broadcast). ''Tonight'' began broadcasting from the Viking studio in Kensington, known by the BBC as "studio M". It eventually transferred to one of the main studios in Lime Grove,

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

, west London.History of TV Studios - Lime Grove
retrieved 18 February 2010.

Content and style

The programme covered the arts and sciences as well as topical matters and current affairs. There was a mixture of incisive and light-hearted items: unscripted studio interviews, by Derek Hart, Geoffrey Johnson-Smith and Michelmore himself; and filmed reports. Reporters included

Alan Whicker Alan Donald Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a British journalist and Television presenter, television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary televisio ...

, Fyfe Robertson,

Kenneth Allsop Kenneth Allsop (29 January 1920 – 23 May 1973) was a British broadcaster, author and naturalist. Early life Allsop was born on 29 January 1920 in Holbeck, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was married in St Peter's Church, Ealing, i ...

, Chris Brasher, Julian Pettifer, Brian Redhead and Polly Elwes. The programme received the Guild of Television Producers and Directors (now BAFTA) award for best factual programme in 1957 and 1958. The style was informal with no attempt to hide studio equipment. Michelmore gave a very relaxed performance, sometimes perching on the edge of his desk, seemingly unfazed by the ringing of his desk telephone letting him know about technical problems. There were regular appearances b
Rory McEwen
Cy Grant, singing a "topical calypso", and folk singers Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor. Michelmore became known for his catchphrase when closing the show, "That's all for tonight, the next 'Tonight' will be tomorrow night. Until then, good night!"Tonight
whirligig-tv.co.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2009. It was during an edition of ''Tonight'' broadcast on the evening of Friday 22 November 1963 that BBC television broke the news of the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy to UK viewers, although

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

had already broadcast the news in its northern ITV region. In 1964,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

appeared on the programme and sang

With God on Our Side With God on our side may also refer to: * ''With God On Our Side'' (film) (2010), a documentary about Christian Zionism * "God on Our Side", title of Episode 25 of ''Revelations – The Initial Journey'' (2002) * "With God on Our Side" (song), a s ...

Later BBC series

A new programme under the name, presented by Sue Lawley,

Denis Tuohy Denis Tuohy (born 2 April 1937, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a television broadcaster, newsreader and journalist and actor. Tuohy attended Queen's University, Belfast, where he learned to debate and acquired an interest in acting. In 1960, ...

and Donald MacCormick, was launched on

in September 1975, in a late evening slot. When Lawley left to have a baby, Valerie Singleton replaced her on the show, which continued until July 1979.BBC Genome Project - BBC1 listings 5 July 1979
/ref> ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also avail ...

'', which launched six months later on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

, was its replacement.

References

External links

BBC History of TV news in the 1950s
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonight (1957 Tv programme) BBC Television shows British television news shows